Edmonton Ceili's Sponsors Annual Fundraising Event
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
Ceili's Irish Pubs in Alberta are a work in progress.....there's always something new happening on the scene. On a recent whirlwind trip to Edmonton and Calgary, I dropped into both Ceili's locations to get up-to-date on the happenings.
Ceili's in Edmonton is located at 10338 - 109th Street, near Grant MacEwan College. It's a nice cosy pub with a popular outdoor patio with umbrellas and night lighting. Bill McBain is the General Manager and when I stopped by, he was away in Halifax (Bill is from the Maritimes).
PICTURED at Ceili's Irish Pub, Edmonton are Denise Salzano, the Day Manager (second from right) and her staff Liz, Amber Della and Michelle.
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I spoke with Day Manager Denise Salzano who told me "Bill took over here about four months ago and business has steadily been picking up since then. We're starting to see some old faces here that we haven't seen in awhile. We have some great new staff and overall it's much more successful than we've ever seen before."
On Thursday nights they host the Bud One Night Stand when they invite professional songwriters to come in and perform for the audience and Denise said, "they're fantastic." On Friday nights Neil MacDonald is the featured entertainer who also books all the entertainment for the pub. On Saturday nights, Denise said, "we have something new, called Jameokee. It's one or two guys with their own band and the customers get to sing along with the live music, so they get a chance to be a mini rock star."
There is also an excellent package for fundraisers at Ceili's which offers a great opportunity for sports teams to make money for their club. They also cater to a lot of soccer, rugby and football teams, as well as business and office parties.
Every year Bill McBain hosts a fundraising event and selects a charity to benefit. For each event he has fresh lobster flown in from Prince Edward Island. Last year the charity was Coats For Kids, which was a highly successful drive for winter coats for underprivileged children. This year it will be the Make A Wish Foundation.
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PICTURED at the popular Ceili’s Irish Pub in Calgary are Managing Partner, Shane Seaman (far right) with Tony Byrns and Katy Wightman.
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Ceili's Flagship Pub Boasts Biggest Outdoor Patio in Canada
At Ceili's flagship pub in downtown Calgary, I spoke with Shane Seaman, Managing partner and he said that the Ceili's management is considering opening another Ceili's in Calgary, but this time in one of the suburban areas. “Calgary is just going gang-busters now,” Shane said, “with the oil patch going strong, we'd sort of like to open a little further away from the downtown core. Our Ceili's downtown caters to the corporate crowd and by opening an establishment in the suburbs we would reach a new market.”
The organization is also looking at Vancouver for opening a Ceili’s in the downtown area, possibly in a 12 to 18 month time frame. Shane said, “our company actually has an establishment now called Skybar in downtown Vancouver which is more of a restaurant, martini bar.
“What we would like to do in Vancouver would be something like we have here in Calgary, and establish a sort of little entertainment district, where we would have an Irish pub, maybe a sushi restaurant, a steakhouse and a nightclub all within a walking distance area. Yeah, we'll do Western Canada by the time it's all said and done.”
Ceili's in Calgary boasts the biggest roof top patio in Canada and Shane said, “if the weather is sunny...we're packed. If the weather is cool, then we have heaters on the patio. During Stampede our patio is fully booked day and night. Right out our backdoor we also own the big world famous Cowboy’s Club.”
The pub also has Jameokee along with live entertainment four or five nights a week. Ceili's pubs have all the traditional Celtic pub grub and do a seasonal type menu in the spring and summer, such as more salads and fruit features, and when it gets a little colder, there are more pastas and heavier dishes to choose from.
I wondered if Shane would be moving to Vancouver when Ceili's opened but he said, “I will always be based here in the heart of downtown Calgary, this is our flagship, it's very busy and a big beast to run, so this is where I need to be.”
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